April, 19 21 
prints there was a Watteau shepherd scenic 
one, in red inks on white; a Directoire one of 
beaux and belles dancing and swinging, in 
violet on white; a spirited hunting scene, very 
English, in red on white; and a dramatic red 
and white one of great ships in full sail, and 
islands where Indians and elephants and 
donkeys were amicably disposed. This last 
one I used in an old room in my Connecticut 
farmhouse, a low ceiled room of unexpected 
doors and windows and alcoves, with a great 
old-fashioned fire place. The small wall 
spaces are too lovely, with their exaggerated 
red ships. No pictures are used in this room, 
but many bookshelves go from floor to ceiling, 
the varied colors of their contents furnishing 
those differences in tone and pattern furnish¬ 
ing the needed relief to monotony. 
Totally different is the use of a toile-de-Jouy 
paper shown in one of these illustrations. This 
is printed in snuff colored ink on a deep yel¬ 
low-cream ground. The room in which it is 
used is Louis XVI, paneled, with its wood all 
painted the deep cream color of the paper, a 
faun colored carpet and snuff colored curtains 
of crepe-de-chine. The lighting fixtures in 
this room are not French, they are old Georgian 
ones of carved pine, aged to a soft snuff color, 
lovely in this room. A mixture of furniture has 
been used, but pattern has been avoided. A 
screen made of marbleized paper, pale blue 
and rose, bound with gray ribbon, is a pleasant 
spot that is found in this room. 
At “Vestiges" 
The decorator of taste loves to admit rules, 
because then there is a pleasure in breaking 
them. An architectural axiom successfully 
ignored is like dissonance in music, a delight 
to him who appreciates it. ‘'Vestiges,” the 
reclaimed farmhouse of Paul Chalfin at 
Greenwich, is full of subtle accomplishments in 
use of wall papers. There is a low ceiled din¬ 
ing room, for instance, where Mr. Chalfin has 
first exaggerated the horizontal lines of the 
room by breaking the walls with a wainscot, 
and then boldly used a paper of conventional 
design, great scrolls enclosing vases of flowers, 
all printed in yellow and brown inks on white, 
to fill the spaces between wainscot and ceiling. 
At the very top of the wall an inch wide paper 
border of black and gray beading is used like 
a fine accent. This old room would have been 
very correct and charming with a modest 
striped paper and a straw matting, but with 
these great yellow scrolls and a lovely flowered 
Aubusson carpet it becomes a good room plus. 
Mr. Chalfin has emphasized the extreme sim¬ 
plicity of the shell of the room. The wainscot 
is made of plain planks, the mantel is the 
original one of the cottage, the floor is made 
of plain boards, but he has. by the introduction 
of this finely designed wall paper made a 
proper background for furniture of his own 
taste, a mixture of 18th Century things from 
many countries. The carpet is French. The 
curtains are of old Italian yellow silk, the 
table is a simple drop leaf American one, the 
chairs are Italian walnut, with rush seats. 
The two great gilt consoles and the magnificent 
paintings hanging over them are fine masses 
of color and gilt in a room that seems simple 
(Continued on page 90) 
25 
A pleasant use 
of pattern 
against pattern — 
red and white 
toile - de -J ouy 
against gray and 
white paper—in 
Paul Chal fin’s 
house 
Yellow scrolls 
and flowers are 
used between 
white ceiling and 
white wainscot in 
a low room 
An old toile-dc- 
Jouy reprint in 
brown ink on 
cream fills panels 
in a Louis XVI 
bedroom 
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